Officials of the Manila Public Recreations Bureau (PRB) has disputed statements recently made by Senator Francis Tolentino regarding the Manila Zoo, calling his impressions outdated and inaccurate.

“It appears that our esteemed senator has not visited the newly renovated Manila Zoo in quite some time,” said Roland Marino, head of the PRB, which oversees the zoo’s operations.

Marino addressed several of Tolentino’s claims, including his assertion that the zoo is too small for its animals and that the concrete enclosures are unnatural.

“Firstly, we no longer have giraffes at the zoo since the early 2000s,” Marino clarified. “Secondly, our enclosures are spacious and meet international zoo standards.”

Marino also addressed the death of the zoo’s elephant, explaining that the animal had reached its natural lifespan of 40-45 years in captivity and passed away of old age, not due to its enclosure.

Regarding concerns about pollution, Marino emphasized that the Manila Zoo’s diverse flora mitigates the effects of air pollution in the metro area.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) disclosed on Wednesday that its operatives have apprehended seven individuals which include two Chinese physicians and four foreigners in a raid conducted at an illegally operating clinic in Makati City.

NBI director Jaime Santiago — who led the NBI team in the raid — narrated that all of the staff found inside the clinic were invited for further investigation.

He also identified the two Chinese nationals identified as alias Zhihe Yu and Jingfang Wu, who were allegedly practicing medicine in the clinic.

The two suspects were able to evade the raiding team.

Santiago said that the NBI said the will file charges against the Filipinos staff of Mastercare MDC Inc. clinic identified as Charles Anson Ching, Nasrin Hagnani; Sharmie Fernando; Manrissa Reyes; Blessie Fernando; Cristy Sim, and a Chinese national identified as Xu Keting for violations of Section 4A of RA 8203 (Special Law on Counterfeit Drugs) and RA 4226 (Hospital Licensure Act).

The custody of four foreign nationals who were found in the clinic including Subject Xu will be turned over to the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

To recall, the raid was conducted by NBI-Laguna District Office (LAGDO) after it obtained the search warrant for the clinic located in San Isidro, Makati City for violation of RA 3720 as amended by RA 9711 (Food and Drug Act of 2009).

Santiago said his office had received information that a Chinese national identified as “Dr. Yu” is in connivance with some Filipinos for selling unregistered medicines in a purported hospital clinic.

The NBI said the information they gathered that the hospital clinic caters only to Chinese patients and that unregistered medicines are stored inside the clinic.

Acting on the information, NBI-LAGDO immediately conducted a test-buy operation on 17 June 2024 and was able to confirm the veracity of the information.

Verification with the Food and Drug Administration on one of the items during the test-buy operation showed that the submitted item (ointment) was unregistered.

In the second test-buy, the poseur-patient had a medical checkup at the subject clinic and was prescribed with several medicines with Chinese markings, which were bought from the clinic as the informant paid P3,000 for the check-up and the medicines.